Julia Wandelt sobs in dock as Kate McCann says she's not Madeleine

A woman accused of stalking the family of Madeleine McCann shed tears in the dock as the missing girl's mother Kate denied she was her daughter.

Polish national Julia Wandelt, 24, is on trial accused of stalking the McCanns for over two and a half years while claiming she was the missing girl, who vanished on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007. Kate took the witness stand at Leicester Crown Court today, shielded by a curtain, to give evidence at the trial of two women accused of stalking her, her husband and twin children.

Today the missing girl's mum, giving evidence from behind a curtain, told jurors that when she first saw a photo of Wandelt "it was clear it was not Madeleine".

READ MORE: Julia Wandelt trial LIVE: 'Stalker' sobs as Kate McCann says she's not Madeleine

Wandelt is accused of sending sending a letter, calls, voicemails and WhatsApp messages to Kate and Gerry McCann and Instagram messages to Madeleine's younger siblings, twins Amelie and Sean McCann.

Asked if she responded to the messages from Wandelt, Kate said: "No I didn’t. I didn’t want to engage." The court heard how the 24-year-old obtained Kate's mobile phone number and began ringing her. Prosecutor Michael Duck claimed on a single day in April last year, she called and messaged Kate over 60 times.

In court today, Kate was played a voicemail that Wandelt allegedly left on her mobile phone in which she claimed to be Madeleine. The 24-year-old said: "Don't give up on your daughter, I'm not a liar, I’m not crazy, I just want to know the truth, please don't reject me."

When asked if she considered taking the DNA test that Wandelt requested, Kate replied: "Well, no. If I’m honest, the persistence of Julia’s behaviour, It started getting to me. In some ways I wanted to take a DNA test just to put it to bed, even though having seen the photograph I knew it was not her." At this point Wandelt began sobbing in the dock.

The 24-year-old claimed she had memories of the young girl's childhood before she was supposedly trafficked to Poland. Kate said she first became aware of the woman around three years ago, when Wandelt called the switchboard at the hospital where Madeleine's parents work.

Kate told the court she eventually called police when Wandelt tried to contact her daughter Amelie. The mum said: "That was a final straw for me. Amelie and Sean, I don't want them involved, so I discussed it with the police."

Wandelt is on trial alongside co-accused Karen Spragg, from Cardiff, who has been accused of one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, after she allegedly made calls, sent letters and visited the McCann's home address.

The court heard how both women waited outside the McCann family home and surprised Kate as she returned home. The trial continues.